Summer League Wrapping Up
Six divisions across four leagues are gearing up for playoff time. Many of the number one seeds have been determined, but there’s still a lot to play for in the upcoming final games of the regular seasons.
Here’s a snapshot:
Doubles League. Doubles League will be starting its playoffs THIS WEEK. They still have one regular season game to play, but since there are two games each Thursday, that means this week will have both the final round-robin game at 5:45, followed by the first playoff game at 6:45. The #1 seed has been locked up by the powerhouse duo of Camren Spangler and Nick Vida. They have only lost one game this season, which was to the current three-seed duo of David Betts and Laura Lunetta. Betts/Lunetta still have a chance to move up to second place if they win and Shelton/Bally loses. Or they can drop to fourth place with a loss, having lost the head-to-head tiebreaker with Stefani/Kelly, who have finished their round robin.
The most momentous result of Game Nine will be at the other end of the standings. Eight of the nine teams are eligible to win the championship, while the ninth-place team will be eliminated. As of now, Hartfiel/McGuire is in ninth place despite having the same record as Skidmore/Spalding having lost the head-to-head game between them. However, Seyfried/Kuhl is only one game ahead of those two, and if it becomes a three-way tie, the tiebreaker math might change.
We’ll know more on Thursday, and by the end of the night, five of the nine teams will have been eliminated.
Sunday Breakfast League:
Not much to see here. The #1 seeds in both divisions have already been clinched. The championship will be between Team Swartz and Team Test Icicles, skipped by Brian Feldman, Jr. The two teams are playing each other this week. Will they keep their strategy close to the chest or go for a big win to get in the other team’s head?
The other two teams will determine playoff rankings. Skidmore and King play each other for second place in the Mimosa Division, although King will need to win by a wide margin to win the tiebreaker. Similarly, in the Bloody Mary Division, Jones and Barbree enter the final game with nearly identical records. Whoever wins that game will become the second-place team and play against Skidmore or King the following week for third place in “Curler of the Year” points.
Sunday Lunch League:
This one’s a lot more wide open. Only one game left, and very little has been decided. The only thing we know for certain is that Bromancing the Stone will enter the playoffs as the third-place team in the Beer Division. The other five teams all have records of either 4-2 or 3-3. Hilger is playing Pegasus on Sheet Four. The winner gets to play for the championship the following game. On Sheet Two, Lunetta will be playing Cech. If Lunetta wins, they’re in. But if Cech should come out on top, and if Tudor can beat Bromacning next door, then the Whiskey Division will end in a three-way tie, bringing in all sorts of tiebreakers.
Thursday League:
Thursday League is wide open. With one game remaining in the regular season, three teams have a shot at the crown, while four teams still might drop to the last-place game. And one of those teams is the same one!
Despite never losing a game, Team Swartz (2-0-2) dropped to second place last night by virtue of their two ties, behind Laura Lunetta’s 3-1. Neither of those two are safe for the championship game, however, as Team Frey is waiting in the wings at 2-2. Frey plays Lunetta in the final game on August 15, with the winner assured of making the Championship. However, if Frey should fall, they might drop all the way to fifth place, currently held by two teams with an identical 1-2-1 record. Those two teams, Little and Vida, will be playing against each other, likely with the winner making the third-place game and the loser dropping to the last-place game.